Ninth-Place Cape Town a Kick in the Head

Watching his horses finish far back in the Preakness was painful enough. Then, back at the barn, about an hour after the race, trainer Wayne Lukas was clipped in the head by Cape Town as he tried to check out the colt’s injured foreleg.

Leaning over, Lukas was dealt a bloody blow above the left temple when Cape Town’s handler jerked the colt’s lead shank in the trainer’s direction.

“Those are the only stars I saw all day,” Lukas said, trying to laugh off the incident.

Cape Town, the third choice in the Preakness after running fifth in the Kentucky Derby, was ninth Saturday, two spots behind Lukas’ Baquero, who led the race for three-quarters of a mile.

Cape Town lost a shoe in the race, and back at the barn there was swelling in his lower right foreleg. Lukas, who said Cape Town will get a rest, plans to run Yarrow Brae, the Illinois Derby winner, in the Belmont Stakes on June 6.

Victory Gallop also will try to block Real Quiet’s Triple-Crown path, and Saturday’s third-place finisher, Classic Cat, is also a possibility for the Belmont.

Thomas Jo, winner of Saturday’s Sir Barton Stakes at Pimlico, also may try the Belmont. Mike Smith, the jockey of the sidelined Coronado’s Quest, said Saturday that he hopes his colt makes the Belmont, after running in the Metropolitan Mile in New York a week from Monday.

Others who could run in the Belmont are Hanuman Highway, Limit Out, Raffie’s Majesty, Rubiyat, the maiden Nationalore and the British-based Saratoga Springs.

“I love Real Quiet’s [Belmont] chances,” said Gary Stevens, who rode Victory Gallop to a second-place finish Saturday. “If he keeps improving like he has in the last three races, he’ll be tough.”

Bob Baffert plans to train Real Quiet up to the Belmont the way he worked with Silver Charm a year ago. Real Quiet will ship to Churchill Downs on Monday, finish up his preparations at the Kentucky track and arrive at Belmont Park a few days before the race.

“The Seinfeld show’s over, now it’s The Fish Show,” Baffert said, referring to his nickname for Real Quiet.

“We had more than 70,000 at the Belmont last year, and I hope we bring out 100,000 this time. The Belmont distance [1 1/2 miles, the longest of the Triple Crown races] should be no problem. This horse is like The Charm [Silver Charm]. He’s tough and he’s got a great mind. Did you notice how the other guys were pouring water on their horses in the paddock? Real Quiet didn’t need any. He was cool all the way.”

Preakness Notes

Trainer Bill Mott and jockey Jerry Bailey had a big day at Pimlico, combining to win stakes with Richter Scale in the $200,000 Maryland Breeders’ Cup; Ajina in the $200,000 Pimlico Distaff; Acceptable in the $100,000 William Donald Schaefer Handicap; and Yagli in the $200,000 Dixie.